Burnt clay tablets have been the most durable freely readable media in history (sorry for language, English is not my mother language .There is lots of room: public offices, libraries, universities, private kitchens and bathrooms, lots of wasted wall space.With modern mass production you could reasonably cheaply cover your walls with beautifully decorated tiles printed with your favorite knowledge. After centuries of frost and water and fires you could still save information of the past from piles of rubbish.

If you number information tiles adequately from basics to end and add HYDIY (how you do it yourself) manuals, you could easily make resilient and not centralized information stores for all around the world. If you use Creative Commons license for creating and organize of knowledge and design of tiles, every ceramic tile factory could use them for free. I don't know how fine detailed printing you can use with ceramic tiles, but I suppose with modern technics you could stuff on a tile quite a lot.

Of course you could add some requirement of certificate to "fire and frost proof and readable after millennium".

Yes of course, for basics, but after that u could print quite a lot stuff to small space by using scientific and mathematical formulas. And after introducing principles of optics, magnifying lenses and microscope, u can use space more economically.... And official buildings have lot of unused space at walls. You could also set up archive vaults to many geologically stable areas as have been done for seeds. Just many kilometers of tunnels and shelves....

Yes of course, for basics, but after that u could print quite a lot stuff to small space by using scientific and mathematical formulas. And after introducing principles of optics, magnifying lenses and microscope, u can use space more economically.... And official buildings have lot of unused space at walls. You could also set up archive vaults to many geologically stable areas as have been done for seeds. Just many kilometers of tunnels and shelves....

Yes I see your point. You could also prioritise, using large text for used regularly by many people and use micro writing on tablets for your less used or secret stuff.

Begin Quotation from Contact form on Shapeways web site:Dr. Lewis Dartnell recently appeared as an 'expert' in the PBS special program "Humanity from Space". Dr. Dartnell is author of a book entitled "The Knowledge". To supplement the book, Dr. Dartnell is hosting a web forum.

One of the guests to the forum suggested using ceramic tile to preserve essential information in anticipation of the collapse of the fragile "civilization" we have created. I think there is a potential commercial market for tiles as described in this contribution by HooFoo. Your ceramics team would have to evaluate the potential for this idea.

Since I dropped one of the teapot lids Shapeways made for me, I realize the ceramic/porcelain products are subject to breakage. My guess would be that enclosing a knowledge preservation tile in clear polyurethane might help to protect the item, but polyurethane itself is subject to deterioration.

What inspired this inquiry is my having to focus upon the Gravitational Constant for a project. Cavendish achieved the first approximation of the Gravitational Constant 100 years after Newton published his insights about the behavior of gravity.

The idea here would be to inspire a global movement to print essential knowledge in ceramic/porcelain and mount it on public and private walls. The benefit would be education today, as well as recovery from disaster in an uncertain future.

(th)End Quotation.(th)

May every member of The Knowledge forum grow financially, intellectually, socially and beyond.

Of cause this materials will be relative expensive.There is a goal conflict between longterm and extreme durability and the possibility of mass distribution.

But maybe it is possible to follow two collaborating strategies:A mass distribution of cheap elements spread basic knowledge and point the way to some secure vaults where the complete informations are stored on very resistant material.

Maybe the costs of good materials could be minimalised by recycling:The glass-plates from old ceran-ovens, pc- and smartphone-monitors etc. could be graved in with informations.

Maybe we can motivate somebodies to create a collection of "scientific breakfast plates" made from hard material, each with an abstract of an basic scientific theme: physics, chemie, biology, nutrition,...I´m sure, many parents would buy some for their breakfast-table to talk about the topics with their school-children!

However, ** this ** section really hit the spot for me:Begin Quotation:Maybe we can motivate somebodies to create a collection of "scientific breakfast plates" made from hard material, each with an abstract of an basic scientific theme: physics, chemie, biology, nutrition,...I´m sure, many parents would buy some for their breakfast-table to talk about the topics with their school-children!

In this single statement I see both the great potential and the deepest pitfall of the Internet forum as it exists in 2015.

The potential is to create an entire industry with global scope.

The pitfall is that the potential is left unrealized.

In the case of Shapeways, which was founded in the Netherlands, there is a potential for some of its 400,000 designers to begin to make Knowledge Iconic ceramic plates immediately. Since only a tiny number of people from around the entire planet are currently visiting The Knowledge forum on a regular basis, it is unlikely the owner of a ceramics company is among them.

However! Each and every person who visits the Knowledge Forum is HIGHLY LIKELY to have the skills needed to design 3D Printer designs to convey Critical Knowledge Icons to the public.

Anyone who wishes to become the "owner" of a retail shop on Shapeways.com is free to do so.

My shop is quite modest, compared to many sites, so I encourage readers here to explore the vast scope of the Shapeways community.

I have numerous items NOT on display, because they are in testing, or waiting for Shapeways approval, or obsolete and waiting for deletion.

Please note that while owning your own 3D Printer is an option these days for many readers, it is NOT necessary to own such a printer, because Shapeways invests in state-of-the-art equipment, and makes their capabilities available to their designers for modest fees.

In fact, Dr. Dartnell himself could create a shop with the appropriate title "TheKnowledge" and invite contributions of Knowledge Icons to offer.

Finally, please note that the Shapeways business model allows for FREE distribution of the STL files used to make Knowledge Icons. Thus, while the icons can be offered for sale from the Shapeways site, anyone with a 3D Printer can download the "make" files and print the items.

Begin Quotation:Nisey (Shapeways) Jul 26, 16:47 Hey Tom, I see you are reaching out with a suggestion for the ceramic/porcelain team. I will be sharing with them the information that you sent over. My product team will also be made aware. Thank you for taking the time to share this with us, we appreciate it. Take Care, Nisey Customer Service Agent www.Shapeways.comEnd Quotation.(th)

May every member of The Knowledge forum grow financially, intellectually, socially and beyond.